Introduction
All relationships start with an introduction. Call, text or email me anytime. I’d love to hear from you. We can have a quick chat on the phone or get together for coffee/lunch and talk more about your real estate goals.
Create A Plan
Let me know what type of properties interest you and your budget. Our brokerage has an excellent in-house mortgage team if you need help with pre-approval. We’ll talk about your timeline (weeks, months, years) and then develop a plan to keep you on track.
Know Your Market
The most important factor when buying a home is understanding the market. You might assume this involves analyzing complicated charts and spreadsheets, but it doesn’t. The best way to become a market expert is to simply monitor home sales.
I will create a personal MLS account for you to monitor active listings and sales in your area, and help you identify properties that offer the best value with your preferred features.
Property Viewings
This is the fun part! Once you are pre-approved and want to start viewing homes, we’ll start to identify “potential” options and see them in person. We find these homes from a range of sources, including your MLS portal, open houses, private sales, and “coming soon” listings that aren’t on the market.
Contract & Negotiations
Once we find the perfect home for you, we present the Seller with an offer. I will help you negotiate the best price and recommend the necessary contract conditions to perform due diligence on the property and make sure we have everything in place before you commit to any purchase.
Examples of common conditions include obtaining financing, conducting a property inspection and title review, verifying insurability, and approving the property disclosure statement. Contract conditions are property specific and will depend on the home and its features. For example, suppose the property is a strata title (condominium, townhouse, etc.), or the house relies on well water or a septic system; these would be other areas to examine.
Due Diligence & Inspections
Once the Seller accepts our offer, we typically have 2-3-weeks to perform due diligence and satisfy our conditions. This time frame might be longer or shorter, depending on the investigation and terms we negotiated. During this period, we send the signed contract to your mortgage broker or bank for final approval on financing and perform inspections on the property.
If we discover any problems during our inspection, we can either notify the Seller that we are revoking (cancelling) the offer or, alternatively, renegotiate on the price.
Condition Removal & Deposit
If we don’t discover any issues during the due diligence phase and you are confident to move forward, we remove (satisfy) our contract conditions, and the offer becomes “unconditional.”
You will provide me with a bank draft for the contract deposit, which is temporarily held in our brokerage trust account and paid towards the purchase price on closing. All transaction paperwork will be reviewed and approved by our brokerage team and forwarded to your lawyer’s office, where it will remain until the closing date.
This is typically the “pop the champaign” moment!
Transition & Lawyer Paperwork
This next stage involves organizing yourself for the move. Do you need to schedule movers? Also, which utility companies will you need to notify of the address change? Start to make a list so you’re prepared in advance.
Your lawyer’s office will contact you approximately 1-2-weeks before the closing date to sign the final documents. Your lawyer’s office handles the transfer of the purchase funds, registers the mortgage (if applicable), and transfers the home title into your name.
Closing Date
The most exciting stage of all… Receiving the keys to YOUR NEW HOME!
I meet you at the property on the possession date with your new keys. This often involves some high-fives and cheers. What happens next is up to you!